WASHINGTON—Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Thursday accused the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s acting leadership of undercutting President Trump’s call for a one-year 10% cap on credit-card interest rates, urging the agency to take immediate action to rein in what she described as excessive consumer costs.
In a letter to Acting CFPB Director Russell Vought, Warren said she spoke with President Trump last week and told him Congress could pass legislation to cap credit-card rates if he would fight for it. While lawmakers consider possible legislation, she argued, the CFPB’s recent actions are moving in the opposite direction of the president’s stated goal of making credit cards more affordable.
Warren cited recent CFPB data showing average credit-card APRs at their highest level since 2015—25.2% for general-purpose cards and 31.3% for private-label cards—with consumers paying a cumulative $160 billion in interest in 2024. She contended that rates have risen far faster than default risk, widening the gap between benchmark federal rates and consumer borrowing costs to historically high levels.
The senator criticized the Bureau’s pullback on supervision and enforcement, including paused examinations, dropped cases, and the abandonment of a rule that would have capped late fees at $8. She also faulted the CFPB for withdrawing guidance on credit-card rewards practices she said can mislead consumers. Warren urged the agency to reinstate late-fee limits, restrict deferred-interest promotions, resume lending-law compliance exams, restore oversight of rewards programs, and restart investigations into tens of thousands of unresolved consumer complaints.
DCUC Reacts
The Defense Credit Union Council moved quickly late Friday to address Warren's comments, sending a letter to the senator.
“We appreciate Senator Warren’s attention to the rising costs facing credit card consumers, and we share her commitment to protecting Americans from predatory financial practices. However, the proposals outlined in her letter—especially the blanket 10% interest rate cap—would unintentionally harm the very people they’re intended to help," DCUC Chief Advocacy Officer Jason Stverak told CUToday.info.
In its letter, DCUC told Warren it shares her goal of protecting consumers from abusive credit-card practices, but argues that credit unions operate under a fundamentally different, member-owned model than large banks. The trade group emphasized that credit unions already return earnings to members through lower rates and fees, operate under an 18% federal interest-rate cap, and generally avoid the “junk fee” and profit-maximization behaviors Warren is targeting.
On Warren’s proposed one-year 10% credit-card rate cap, DCUC said it strongly objects, warning it would create serious unintended consequences—especially for military families, younger servicemembers, and lower-income borrowers. The organization argued a rigid cap would undermine risk-based lending, force credit unions to tighten underwriting or exit certain credit products, and ultimately push vulnerable consumers toward higher-cost or less-regulated lenders. Instead of broad caps, DCUC urged more targeted consumer-protection strategies such as financial education, enforcement against truly abusive actors, and policies that preserve access to affordable credit.
In the letter signed by Stverak, DCUC said it largely supports Warren’s broader consumer-protection goals, backing tougher oversight of deceptive practices like deferred-interest “gotchas,” rewards bait-and-switch tactics, unreasonable late fees, weak compliance with CARD Act requirements, and the rising volume of credit-card complaints. DCUC called for smarter, more tailored regulation that targets bad actors without penalizing responsible, community-based lenders, and reiterates its willingness to work with Warren and regulators to strengthen consumer protections while preserving access to fair credit for servicemembers and their families.